Can someone explain reading levels and EYFS outcomes?

[User14567]

My son is in reception and he’s reading Oxford reading tree yellow band books. He couldn’t read or write beyond his name before he started school so I feel like his progress has been ok, but from talking to other parents he is really far behind his friends in reading. Just had parents evening. Teacher says (confusingly) he’s behind in reading but securely in “expected” in terms of early learning goals. Is this because he’s in a high achieving class so he is at or near the bottom of class but still in average range for children overall?
He’s an anxious kid and starting school was a bit tough for him so we didn’t push him to do too much homework in the first half of the school year. Now I’m worried we’ve let him fall behind and he won’t be able to catch up. Will he be considered low achieving with low expectations of him as he moves through primary school?
I don’t expect, or want him to be a genius but I don’t think he’s meeting his potential at the moment, but he’s quiet and well behaved and getting by just well enough to be easily overlooked 🙁

Yellow is the expected level for the end of reception, and given it's only Easter I don't see how you can believe he is behind.

Tbh I think the teacher is deluded. Lots of children go into yr1 at or below yellow.

www.readingchest.co.uk/book-bands

Book levels aren't related to the Early Years goals.
The school will have their own target book level for the end of Reception based on whatever scheme they use that will probably match up to expected progress for KS1 and KS2.
So children can get 'expected' in terms of the Early Years goals reading red books but the school might want them reading yellow/blue/pink with purple spots.

Yellow is the expected level for the end of reception, and given it's only Easter I don't see how you can believe he is behind

Because the teacher told me he is. They are grouped by ability for reading and he is in the bottom group.

The school will have their own target book level for the end of Reception based on whatever scheme they use that will probably match up to expected progress for KS1 and KS2

So if he’s low achieving at the end of reception, will his expected progress for KS1 and KS2 be low too?

Thanks tomorrow I’d seen that link so thought he was doing ok until we went to parents evening.

It will depend on your individual school's expectations, you need to ask them.

It could just be a high achieving class or school. It is quite possible to be in the bottom group or couple of groups and be behind the rest of the class, but not to be behind where you’d expect most children to be at the end of reception.

My son has not long turned 5. He's the youngest in his primary 1 class (p1 in Scotland is the first year of school, we don't have reception.) He is on red books but level 5 so close to moving onto yellow. His teacher said that he is right where he should be for reading and in one of the middle groups. Your school must have high expectations!

Anyway, long story short.... I wouldn't worry. He will learn to read, it is getting them to enjoy reading that is most important.

Perhaps you could clarify with the teacher. Being securely within 'expected' but at the same time 'behind' and in 'bottom group' doesn't obviously add up, so worth finding out what is going on. Personally I would discount most of what you hear from other parents though.

There are so many ways communication can go wrong at parents' evening.

OP, you sound really convinced that the teacher actually said your child was 'behind', but that sounds unusual. I would expect the teacher to comment on how your child is progressing with regards to where they were when they started, and with regards to EY goals, but not on where they sit within the class - this is quite meaningless (as cohorts can vary hugely). Are you sure the teacher said 'behind', and was it with regards to phonics, reading (e.g. comprehension), 'English' overall...?

Just last week a friend told me she'd missed her reception child's parents' evening, her husband went instead and came home saying how the teacher had said the child was struggling in all areas really. When she went to talk to the teacher about this a couple of days later, the teacher was really confused, and finally clarified that she had just listed the next steps but that in fact the child was really quite advanced. Sometimes we don't hear what is said!

Miscommunication aside, I see several ways in which reading yellow level books at this point in reception could lead to being 'bottom group for reading'.

Firstly, as you say, it might be a high achieving cohort. Is it a 'selective' private school by any chance? Or a very hard to get into, fully upper-middle-class leafy state school? I find it hard to imagine that more than a few exceptional cohorts in 'normal' schools would have 25 or more children per class reading beyond yellow level at this point in reception. And even then, your child is clearly not 'behind' as that would be with regards to expectations, not with regards to other children; and as he is solidly within 'expected', it doesn't really add up.

Secondly, your school could be using reading book levels differently than most. For instance, they could be giving books home that are a lot harder than the child's actual reading abilities. Which would mean that at your DS's reading level, he would be reading red or pink level at most schools. That would tally up with being bottom group in some high achieving cohorts I guess. And could still put him solidly within 'expected'.

Thirdly, might it be a distinction between phonics and 'reading'? Schools are meant to provide the children with books at their current phonics level, NOT at their current 'reading' level. Perhaps your school is actually doing this? So his phonics is pretty good, he's been taught all the phonics he needs for yellow level books (provided they are from a 'decodable' scheme), so they give him those books. But he struggles with the 'reading'... e.g. he doesn't have any stamina, loses track of the first words of a sentence before he reaches the end, doesn't understand what he's read, isn't able to answer any questions about what he's just read, ... All these things could mean that he is not yet a strong 'reader' although his phonics ability is right where it is expected to be.

As to if this will affect his targets, expectations. It shouldn't. If what you understood is correct, he isn't 'low achieving', he is exactly within 'expected' (just that some other children are currently a bit ahead). So if school will base their expectations of him on his current results, they should have perfectly average expectations for him, not 'low' ones.
And most schools with have a lot of experience with children 'clicking' with reading at some point between YR and Y3 or so, and then it all evens out, so they won't be thinking him a 'low attainer' but rather just that he hasn't 'clicked' yet.

If he is indeed at expected levels, but bottom group in a high achieving class, then he might benefit from extra help that he wouldn't otherwise get, being average; and from the fact that teachers won't have to always orally explain all tasks to all children (who then forget and need to be told again), as all children can read well.

If you are going to be concerned about something in this situation, it is perhaps his self-esteem. He might be aware of being in 'bottom group' but not that he is bang on track and doing fine. Depending on how school handles this ability grouping thing, and how nice (or not!) the other children are about it, this might impact him quite badly. That's what I'd keep an eye on.
After clarifying with the teacher what is really going on.

this might help you to see he isn't doing badly at all. I have twins in reception. twin 1 is reading and writing, can do all the phonics etc. we were told recently that by june they would be expected to be able to read a sentence and write a sentence, not with perfect spelling but phonetically plausible. twin 2 cannot read or write, not even his name. he cannot recognise his name or his phonics. they have been brought up in the same household and are at the same school in the same class. your son does not sound at all behind?

Not entirely sure what they mean but if you are concerned I would just read more at home. Decided it was about time my DS (hes 5)started reading to me of an evening rather than me to him. He is really enjoying all the praise it brings and has just gone up to level 5 in school.

"Children read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read." Nothing to do with book bands

Thank you for the reassuring posts. I feel a bit better.
brilliotic thats so helpful. Thanks. It is a state school. We are in an affluent area but we picked our school over the super-high achieving and hard to get into school that we are in catchment for as it felt more nurturing and seemed less competitive.
The teacher’s actual words were “he’s not where I want him to be at this stage”. She did say she thinks it will “click” with him at some point (or words to that effect).
The self-esteem aspect is the part I’m most worried about. He’s very self aware, so if he’s consistently at the bottom of the class moving through primary, I think that will be really bad for him.
The school ask us to listen to him read a book every day. I haven’t been doing it. I felt like that was too much for him, but I will start reading more with him and hopefully he’ll catch up.

Is he still sounding out most words?
Also at my dd school half the class have older siblings so the parents know what to expect and how much they have to read with their kids. They will know that slower progress at the begining could affect any ability groups etc.
It depends on the reading scheme. We were still on pink this time last year as there are lots of pink books. (It's another matter that dd didnt need to read 80% of them). But were still past green by the end of the year.
Clearly kids will progress faster reading scheme books every night.
They may have to reread some though before moving to the next level.

User14567, if your DS is in fact 'average' in a class full of above average children, then there is a possibility that he will indeed go through primary in bottom groups.
There is however also a good chance that some of the children that are currently ahead will 'plateau' and/or that your DS will make big leaps once it 'clicks' and catch up/overtake some.
Or, particularly in reading, the school might have a 'once you can read, you can read' opinion, so all those children that are ahead will reach that level maybe a year earlier than your DS, perhaps in Y2, but then will stop making much progress, giving your DS time to catch up and be level with everyone else by Y3.

Be that as it may, currently your DS seems to be in bottom group for reading. You say he is self-aware and this may affect his confidence. In that case I think you need to try to get him to a place where his confidence is not dependent on others in his class, but on his own progress. That's a different kind of 'self-aware' - a healthier kind, IMO. So spend some time showing him how far he has come, illustrate what he can do now compared to half a year ago etc. And point out to him repeatedly that he is not 'behind', but pretty much exactly where a child his age is expected to be. If he is aware, he needs to be aware of this part too, not just of the part where he is behind his peers.
And also perhaps spend some time talking to him about how comparing ourselves with others is a route to unhappiness; the other children's achievements are great and to be celebrated, but take nothing away from his own achievements which are just as great and celebration-worthy.

kipper’s fucking shoelaces 😂. The books are painful. We both work full time, everyone is tired and grumpy in the evening so finding time everyday to read a floppy book has not been a priority. we’ll just have to make more effort.
He is still sounding out maybe 1 or 2 words out of 5 I would say, but not using intonation/noticing punctuation. He’s our oldest child, I’ll do things differently when his little sister starts school!

I think you need to try to get him to a place where his confidence is not dependent on others in his class, but on his own progress. That's a different kind of 'self-aware' - a healthier kind, IMO. So spend some time showing him how far he has come, illustrate what he can do now compared to half a year ago etc
I really like this advice. I’m going to do this! I didn’t want to push him too hard with reading so he started hating it. We’ve focused on things he likes and is good at up to now because he’s anxious and we’re trying to build his confidence. But we’ll have to push him a bit now in reading so I’ll encourage him to be proud of what he’s achieved already.

Tbh I always saw reading one as another one bites the dust. I threw a mental party when my son levelled out of them.

If he can read a yellow book well then he is not behind in eyes expectations. Sounds like he is in a high achieving class.
The best thing you can do is have him read everyday. This needs to be routine so it always happens. We found mornings to be much better than evenings.

Looking back I think the key advice I’d give myself is not to stress. In reception reading at home was a battle and eventually I thought this isn’t very helpful, so we stopped. I kept reading bedtime stories but no homework. My ds rediscovered his love if books in Year 1, and is well advanced now. At some point it just clicks and stops being hard work - it’s so lovely to see!

How would the ideal reading scheme be? What's wrong with the current reading schemes used? Perhaps a new way should be invented ? Is it even possible? It can be such a fridge:(

Book banding is based on multi cueing strategies which we now discourage so you're right they don't match expectations.

I have found the Songbirds books by Julia Donaldson better than some of the books school send home. I have bought a few, and found some in the library. We read a mixture of these and school books. School do not seem to mind. I think that they just want the children to read everyday.